Systems and methods for coupling a drill rig to a screw pile

ABSTRACT

A screw pile substructure support system comprises a tubular pile with a fixed conical tip having a helical flight thereon which draws the pile into a soil bed when a torque is applied to the pile. The tip has a substantially conical shape, and the largest diameter of the tip is substantially the same as the diameter of the tubular pile to which it is attached. The helical flight is attached to the outside surface of the tip. The tip may also be provided a point tip and one or more cutting teeth attached its surface.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/458,890, filed Apr. 27, 2012, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/688,836, filed Jan. 15, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No.9,284,708, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/367,768 filed Mar. 2, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,914,236, which claimsthe benefit and priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/657,857,filed Mar. 2, 2005, the entire content of each application isincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the installation of foundation piles ina soil bed, and particularly to a method and apparatus for theinstallation of a high capacity rotational substructure piling system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The installation of conventional foundation piles has previously beenaccomplished by driving a precast concrete pile or steel beam orvibrating an H pile into a soil bed. When driving a foundation pile, thesoil surrounding the pile may be compacted in various ways as well asdisrupted by the seismic shocks of the pile driver itself. When drivinga pile into hard ground, earth displaced by the pile causes the groundsurrounding the pile to heave. In contrast, when driving a pile intosoft ground, settling of the surrounding soil may be caused. All ofthese conditions can cause problems for any standing structures in thearea of the pile being driven.

The installation of conventional piles has also previously beenaccomplished by pre-drilling a hole in a soil bed using an auger andlowering a pre-molded pile into the hole. A hybrid system also existsbetween the driving and drilling methods whereby an open ended pile suchas a pipe pile is driven into a soil bed, after which point the soilinside the pile is augered out and concrete is poured in the cavityformed therein. Cast and hole methods as well as casons may also beused, specifically where there are concerns for preserving nearbybuildings against the problems discussed above. However, all thesemethods can prove either costly and/or slow to carry out in the field.Furthermore, where the ground in a job site is deemed to becontaminated, any soil removed from the ground, such as that produced byan auger, must be disposed of properly presenting an additional problemand associated cost.

A more complex system is known whereby a pile is attached to a drillhead which is substantially larger than the diameter of the pile itself.The pile is turned together with the drill head by a drilling rig tocreate a passage in the soil bed through which the pile may pass. Aconduit is provided through the center of the pile for water or grout tobe pumped down and out the tip of the drill head to either float awaydebris or anchor the pile in its final resting place in the soil bed.Another system, known as an under-reamer system, features a doubletorque head which turns a drill in the center of a pipe, which pipe isitself turned in the opposite direction from the drill. Although they dohave certain advantages over other known systems, both of these drillingsystems are obviously substantially more complex, and therefore morecostly than the first several prior art systems discussed.

Both driving and drilling systems used to place foundation piles rely inpart on brute force to either force a pile into a soil bed, or to cutand remove material. What is needed is a more elegant approach tofoundation pile placement providing such benefits as may include afaster pile placement speed, lower cost and greater ease of use as wellas higher load capacity piles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, in an exemplary embodiment, a screw pile substructuresupport system comprises a tubular pile having a centerline and a firstdiameter, a substantially conically shaped pile tip sharing a centerlinewith the tubular pile, the substantially conically shaped pile tiphaving a first end and a second end, the second end being connected tothe tubular pile and having a second diameter and a helical flightattached to the outside surface of the substantially conically shapedpile tip, wherein the first diameter is substantially similar to thesecond diameter.

In a further embodiment, the screw pile substructure support system hasa length, and the first diameter is substantially constant throughoutthe length. In yet another embodiment, the screw pile substructuresupport further comprises at least one cutter tooth attached to theoutside surface of the substantially conically shaped pile tip andextending radially outwards from the centerline.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a conical pile tip according to one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 shows a concrete-filled steel pipe pile according to a furtherembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C show specific detailed views taken along the lines3A, 3B, and 3C shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of a conical pile tip;

FIG. 5 shows yet another embodiment of a conical pile tip;

FIG. 6 show various embodiments of cutter teeth for use with a conicalpile tip;

FIG. 7 shows an end bearing surface area detail of another embodiment ofa pile tip;

FIG. 8 shows another end bearing surface area detail of a furtherembodiment of a pile tip;

FIGS. 9A and 9B show an embodiment of a steel pipe pile provided with aseries of driver pin holes 90; and

FIG. 10 shows an embodiment of a reusable driver tool for installing thescrew pile of the present invention.

Before any embodiment of the invention is explained in detail, it is tobe understood that the invention is not limited in its application tothe details of construction and arrangements of components set forth inthe following description, or illustrated in the drawings. The inventionis capable of alternative embodiments and of being practiced or beingcarried out in various ways. Specifically, numerical dimensions wherethey appear on the following drawings represent those of exemplaryembodiments only and may be modified by one skilled in the art asconditions warrant. Also, it is to be understood, that the terminologyused herein is for the purpose of illustrative description and shouldnot be regarded as limiting.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A method and apparatus is provided for the installation of a foundationpile in a soil bed. In contrast to prior art drilled foundation pilesystems which use a low torque and an efficient drill tip which must beretrieved from the drilling site after drilling is complete, in anexemplary embodiment of the present invention a pile is provided with afixed tip having a helical flight thereon which draws the pile into asoil bed when a torque is applied to the pile. FIG. 1 shows a conicalpile tip 10 connected to a pile 1 according to one embodiment of thepresent invention, wherein the pile tip 10 allows the pile 1 to be setinto a soil bed by applying a torque to the distal end of the pile 1(not shown) using a standard drilling rig. The rig may additionallyapply a crowd pressure to the pile 1 along with the torque to furtheraid in placement of the pile 1 in the soil bed to provide substructuresupport system for a large scale construction project.

In one embodiment, the pile tip 10 is comprised of a substantiallyconically shaped body sharing a centerline with the pile 1 to which itis attached, as well as a helical flight 15 attached to the outsidesurface of the pile tip 10, and cutter teeth 16 extending out radiallyfrom the centerline of the pile tip 10. The helical flight 15 helps drawthe pile tip 10 down into a soil bed during placement, and the cutterteeth 16 serve to break up the soil to allow the pile tip 10 to betterpenetrate into the bed. In an exemplary embodiment, the flight 15 isformed from a half-inch thick plate, has a pitch of three inches and isattached to the body of the pile tip 10 so that its lowest edge liesthree inches above an end plate 19. The end plate 19 caps off the end ofthe conical body of the pile tip 10, closing it off from the soil inwhich it is to be placed. A point shaft 17 and cutter teeth 18 areprovided extending out axially from the end plate 19 of the pile tip 10.The point shaft 17 helps keep the pile tip 10 centered duringinstallation of the pile 1 in a soil bed and both the point shaft 17 andthe cutter teeth 18, like the cutter teeth 16, serve to break up thesoil to allow the pile tip 10 to better penetrate into the bed. In oneembodiment, the pile tip 10 is provided with seven cutter teeth intotal.

The pile tip 10 may be fabricated from individual pieces which are cutout and formed to specification before being welded together. The mainbody of the pile tip 10, as well as the flight 15 and the end plate 19may all be cut from pieces of plate stock. The main conical body and theflight may be rolled, heated and otherwise formed into the requiredshape before being welded together along with the end plate 19 along thewelds 11. In one embodiment, full penetration welds may be used for thispurpose. The cutter teeth 16, point shaft 17 and cutter teeth 18 mayalso be fabricated from steel stock and welded onto the pile tip 10. Inone embodiment, A35-grade standard milled steel may be used for thesecomponents. In a further embodiment, the pile 1 is 12.75″ in diameterand has ⅜″ walls, and the pile tip 10 may be attached to the pile 1using the same type of weld 11 utilized in the fabrication of the piletip 10 itself. As a cost saving measure, material for the pile 1 may besupplied by recycled gas piping. Those skilled in steel fabrication willunderstand that numerous alternatives are available for the fabricationof the pile tip 10 and the assembly of the pile tip 10 and the pile 1without deviating from the principles of the invention described herein.For example, the pile tip 10 could be cast as a single unit rather thanhand fabricated from separate pieces of steel stock.

FIG. 2 shows an assembly comprising a complete pile 1 together with apile tip 10 installed in a soil bed. As is known in the art, pilesubstructure systems are commonly used in soil beds comprising a filllayer and potentially a liquid layer, beneath which lies a solid layer20 which may be a sand or granular layer. The solid layer 20 may lie asmuch if not more, than 40′ or 50′ below the surface of the soil. Assuch, the pile 1 must pass down through many feet of looser soilcomponents before it is able to anchor several feet into the solid layer20. To provide a pile 1 of sufficient length, several pieces of pipe maybe joined together lengthwise as shown through the use of the pipesplices 22, which may be full penetration welds of the type shown inFIG. 1 by the welds 11. In one embodiment, the pile 1 may be aconcrete-filled steel pipe pile. Various numbers of spliced members maybe assembled into a complete pile 1 of various lengths depending on thedepth of the solid layer 20 at the installation site of the pile. Afterinstallation of the pile 1, a pile cap 23 may be placed thereon tosupport a slab 24, which may be a poured concrete lab.

A standard drilling rig may be used to turn the assembly of the pile 1and the pile tip 10 into the soil bed, and ultimately the solid layer20. The specifics of the method of attachment of the pile 1 to the rigare shown in detail in later figures. In most if not all embodiments,there will be no need for pre-drilling the installation site for thepile 1, soil conditions permitting. Rather, the pile 1 with the attachedpile tip 10 will be set up in a standard drilling rig and turned intothe previously undisturbed soil bed, while simultaneously a downwardcrowd pressure is applied by the rig on the pile 1. As described inreference to FIG. 1, the inclusion of the helical flight 15 on the piletip 10 helps draw the pile 1 down into the soil bed as it is turned bythe drilling rig, and the cutter teeth 16 and 18 as well as the pointshaft 17 help break up the soil to ease the passage of the pile tip 10downward through the soil bed.

As is known in the art, tie downs to adjacent and previously installedpiles or another suitable anchor may be used to prevent uplift of thedrilling rig as the crowd pressure is applied. Again, depending on therequirements imposed on the job by existing soil conditions, varyinglevels of crowd pressure and torque may be required, including amountsup to 50 or 60 thousand pounds of crowd and 212 thousand foot pounds oftorque, which levels are within the capacities of standard, commerciallyavailable drilling rigs.

The exemplary embodiment of a pile 1 equipped with a pile tip 10described herein performs exceedingly well when being installed in soilswith a high clay content, including those with hard clays. The screwpile or TORQUE DOWN pile, TORQUE DOWN is a trademark of SubstructureSupport Inc. of Oakland, Calif., may also be installed in sandy soils,though possibly with more difficulty, particularly with soils containingvery fine or light sands. However, the embodiment of the present torquedown pile system may still be installed with considerably lessdifficulty when compared to known methods of installing driven piles insuch sandy soil conditions. Furthermore, the present screw pile systemmay be installed in conditions, such as in fine sandy soils such asthose with blow counts above approximately 50 and up to betweenapproximately 60 and 70, in which driven piles may be installed onlywith extreme difficulty if they may be installed at all.

As further described in reference to FIG. 1, the helical flight 15 maybe provided as part of the pile tip 10 having a pitch of three inches.This pitch could be varied depending on expected soil conditions; forexample it could be lessened slightly to 2¾″ if slightly harder soilsare expected. Given that lessening the pitch of the flight decreases thespeed at which the pile tip 10 turns into the soil while allowing hardersoil conditions to be penetrated, and increasing the pitch of the flighthas the opposite effect in both cases, it is desirable to provide anembodiment of flight 15 having a pitch which minimizes the disturbanceto the soil surrounding the pile 1 as the pile 1 is sunk into the soilbed. As discussed above, prior art methods of pile placement, whetherthrough driving or drilling, significantly disturb the soil surroundingthe pile 1. However, the present screw pile may be placed close topre-existing structures without the concern that heaving, settling orseismic disturbance will damage the structure. Furthermore, in contrastto prior art systems, with the embodiment of the present inventiondescribed herein while a volume of soil equal to the volume of the pileand tip is displaced as the pile is sunk, the remainder of the soilremains either compacted or undisturbed. The compacted nature of thesoil provides excellent stability when a pile 1 and pile tip 10 assemblyare installed in a soil bed as shown in FIG. 2.

The improved stability provides much better support for the pile itself,leading to increased load tolerances for piles installed in this manner,and the ability to use smaller diameter piles to support a loadrequirement. As is known in the art, installed piles may be tested witha jack tester to verify their integrity. TORQUE DOWN piles 12.75″ indiameter and having ⅜″ thick walls as well as poured concrete interiorsplaced in representative soil conditions have been tested in this mannerand found to be capable of supporting approximately one million pounds;far more than is possible with a driven or drilled pile of a similardiameter. Accordingly, the load which these TORQUE DOWN piles is capableof supporting exceeds the mandated structural tolerances of the pileitself.

In addition to supporting increased loads over prior art piles, thescrew pile according to the embodiment of the present inventiondescribed herein can be installed much faster than prior art piles.While speed is as always dependent on the soil conditions it is known inthe art that with conventional driven piles, the best that can beexpected in favorable soil conditions is to drive approximately twopiles between forty and sixty foot in length each per hour. In contrast,between approximately three and four of the present screw piles of thesame length can be turned into a similar soil bed in the same amount oftime. As such, a job with a defined number of piles can be finished morequickly with the same size crew as compared to prior art pile systems.This provides a cost savings to the foundation contractor, which savingswill of course be multiplied as the size of a job increases.

FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C show specific detailed views taken along the lines3A, 3B, and 3C shown FIG. 2. In FIG. 3A, a pile cap 23 is shown attachedto the top of a pile 1 in a manner known in the art. Reinforcing steel30 may also be provided. FIG. 3B shows a cross-section of a concretefilled pile 1 having the dimensions specified. FIG. 3C shows aindividual sections of material joined by pipe splices 22 to form aunitary pile 1 of an appropriate length for a specific job.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show alternative embodiments of a conical pile tip 40comprised of a substantially conically shaped body sharing a centerlinewith the pile 41 to which it is attached, as well as a helical flight 45attached to the outside surface of the pile tip 40, and cutter teeth 46extending out radially from the centerline of the pile tip 40. In theembodiment shown, the cutter teeth 46 are provided disposed in a spiralpattern on the outside surface of the pile tip 40 and spaced verticallyapart from one another in one inch intervals. An end plate 49 isprovided as a bottom surface to the conical body of the pile tip 40.Triangular cutter teeth 48 are provided extending out axially from theend plate 49 of the pile tip 40, which pile tip 40 is not provided witha point shaft in the embodiment shown in contrast with the pile tip 10of FIG. 1.

In an alternative embodiment, a bifurcated point shaft may be providedas a component of the pile tip 40 having two prongs, and in a furtheralternative embodiment these prongs may be twisted in a helix to betterserve to break up soil to allow the pile tip 40 to more easily be turnedinto a soil bed. In another embodiment, the pile tip 40 may be providedwith hardened or carbide tipped cutter teeth 46 or 48 to better stand upto harder soil conditions; the edge of the flight 45 may also be hardsurfaced for the same reason. In yet another alternative embodiment,additional flights 45 could be added on the outside surface of the piletip 40. In yet another alternative embodiment, the pile tip 40 may beprovided with an extended shaft thinner in diameter than the end plate49 and extending out axially from the end plate 49 in place of a pointshaft. This extended shaft may include its own helical flight or flightsseparate from the flight 45 provided on the outside surface of the piletip 40.

FIG. 6 show various embodiments of cutter teeth for use with a conicalpile tip. Namely, a point shaft 62 and cutter tooth 63 are shown whichmay be provided extending out axially from the end plate of a pile tip40. A cutter tooth 63 is also shown which may be provided extending outradially from the centerline of a pile tip.

FIG. 7 shows an end bearing surface area detail of another embodiment ofa simplified pile tip 70 assembled and attached to a pile 71 along welds72. An end plate 79 is also provided attached to the remainder of thepile tip 70 using welds 72. The force vectors shown in FIG. 7 reflectthe forces a pile tip 70 exerts on the surrounding soil bed as it isdriven into the soil by the crowd pressure applied by a drilling rigconnected to the distal end of the pile 71 (not shown). Likewise, thesurrounding soil bed exerts reaction forces on the pile tip 70 inresponse to the force vectors shown. These forces, while significant,are not of as great a magnitude as those encountered when placing drivenand drilled pile systems. As such, the disturbance to the soilsurrounding the pile 71 is minimized as the pile 71 is sunk into thesoil bed, which allows the surrounding soil to be packed tighter andtherefore provide a more solid support for the pile 71, leading togreater ultimate load capacities. FIG. 8 shows another end bearingsurface area detail of a further embodiment of a pile tip 80 assembledand attached to a pile 81 along welds 82. An end plate 89 is alsoprovided attached to the remainder of the pile tip 80 using a welds 82.

FIGS. 9A and 9B show an embodiment of the distal end of the pile 1 ofFIG. 1, wherein the pile 1 is provided with a series of driver pin holes90. These driver pin holes are provided so that the pile 1 may besecured to the reusable driver tool 100 shown in FIG. 10 which may beused to install a screw pile according to one embodiment of the presentinvention. The driver tool 100 may be secured to a standard drilling righead 110 using an adaptor 119. The adaptor 119 consists of one or moreadaptor brackets 120 provided with holes 121 which match correspondingholes on the driver tool 100 so that the adaptor brackets 120 may beattached thereto, an adaptor plate 130 which attaches to a standarddrilling rig head 110, and an adaptor pivot 125 connecting the adaptorbrackets 120 and the adaptor plate 130. With one end of theapproximately tubular driver tool 100 connected to the adaptor 119 whichallows the driver tool 100 to pivot with respect to the drilling righead 110, the opposite end is provided with a series of holes 190. Theseholes 190 match the corresponding holes 90 in the pile 1 so that a pile1 may be slid over the end of the driver tool 100 and held there with aseries of pins passed through the holes 190 and their correspondingholes 90.

The driver tool 100 allows for a pile 1 to be quickly set up for usewith a drilling rig head 110. A crew need only raise the driver tool 100to a substantially horizontal position using a cable 102 connected tothe attachment point 101 of the driver tool 100. The opposite end of thecable 102 may be secured at an overhead crane or winch for this purpose.Once the driver tool 100 is in a horizontal position, a pile 1 may beraised, and maneuvered over the end of the driver tool 100 before beingsecured there by the series of through-pins. A forklift or other pieceof equipment may be used to raise the pile 1. In one embodiment, thepins passed through the holes 90 and 190 to secure the pile 1 to thedriver tool 100 are themselves held in place in either by gravity orfriction as the pile 1 is turned by the driver tool 100.

In an alternative embodiment, the rig head 110 shown in FIG. 10 may bereplaced with a hydraulic chuck and the adaptor 119 may be dispensedwith, so that the hydraulic chuck of the drill rig grasps the pile 1directly, a portion of which pile passes upwards through an opening inthe chuck as the pile is being turned into the soil bed. Although inthis embodiment an operator would not be able to easily set up a pile inthe horizontal position, allowing for excess lengths of pile to passthrough the chuck permits much longer lengths of pile to be set up andinstalled. Some currently available drill rigs only allow the rig head acertain amount of vertical travel, so that it would be impractical toturn a single pile longer than approximately 65′ into a soil by usingthe adaptor 119. With a hydraulic chuck allowing for an additionallength of pile to pass upwards and through the rig head. Therefore withsuch a chuck installed, one could turn a certain length of the pile intothe soil bed, loosen the chuck and run it back up the pile to repeat theoperation as necessary until the oversized pile was completely turnedinto the soil.

In yet another alternative embodiment, a torque gauge can be applied toa pile during installation to determine the load rating of a particularpile in a manner roughly analogous to testing the depth of insertion ofa driven pile for a specific force blow of the driver. The verticaltravel of the pile is compared to the require torque for inducing thetravel to estimate the solidity of the pile's engagement with theunderlying soil bed and therefore its estimated load rating.

1-17. (canceled)
 18. An adapter assembly for coupling a drill rig to ascrew pile, the adapter assembly comprising: an adapter configured to beattached to a drill rig head of the drill rig, wherein the drill rig isconfigured to drive screw piles into the ground; and a driver toolcomprising a cylindrical body having a first end coupled to the adapterand a second end opposite to the first end, wherein the driver tool isconfigured to rotate about a pivot axis at the first end, the pivot axisbeing perpendicular to a centerline of the drill rig head, wherein thesecond end is configured to be coupled with a section of the screw pile.19. The adapter assembly of claim 18, wherein the second end of thedriver tool is configured to fit within the section of the screw pile.20. The adapter assembly of claim 19, further comprising a pin, whereinthe second end of the driver tool comprises a plurality of holesconfigured to receive the pin, wherein the section comprises a pluralityof holes configured to receive the pin.
 21. The adapter of claim 20,wherein the second end holes and the section holes are configured toreceive the pin when the second end holes and the section holes arealigned.
 22. The adapter assembly of claim 18, further comprising abracket attached to the first end of the driver tool.
 23. The adapterassembly of claim 22, wherein the bracket is configured to rotate aboutthe pivot axis.
 24. The adapter assembly of claim 23, further comprisinga pin, wherein the first end of the driver tool comprises a plurality ofholes configured to receive the pin, wherein the bracket comprises aplurality of holes configured to receive the pin.
 25. The adapterassembly of claim 24, wherein the first end holes and the bracket holesare configured to receive the pin when the first end holes and thebracket holes are aligned.
 26. The adapter assembly of claim 18, whereinthe adapter comprises a cylindrical body section and a circular endplate attached to an end of the cylindrical body section.
 27. Theadapter assembly of claim 26, wherein the adapter further comprises afirst pivot support and a second pivot support, each protruding from theend plate.
 28. The adapter assembly of claim 27, further comprising: afirst bracket rotably coupled to the first pivot support; and a secondbracket rotably coupled to the second pivot support.
 29. The adapterassembly of claim 28, wherein the first bracket and the second bracketare each attached to the first end of the driver tool.
 30. The adapterassembly of claim 29, further comprising a plurality of pins, whereinthe first end of the driver tool comprises a plurality of holesconfigured to receive the plurality of pins, wherein the first bracketand the second bracket each comprise a plurality of holes configured toreceive the plurality of pins.
 31. The adapter assembly of claim 27:wherein the first pivot support is positioned near an outer edge of thecircular end plate, wherein the second pivot support is positioned nearthe outer edge of the circular end plate, and wherein a position of thefirst pivot support along the circular end plate is about opposite to aposition of the second pivot support along the circular end plate. 32.The adapter assembly of claim 18, further comprising: a pile tipdisposed at an end of the screw pile, the pile tip comprising: a taperedportion comprising a first end having a first diameter and a second endhaving a second diameter, wherein the first diameter is greater than thesecond diameter and about equal to the diameter of the screw pile, andwherein the first tapered portion end is attached to the end of thescrew pile; and a first helical flight attached to and extending alongan exterior surface of the tapered portion.
 33. The adapter assembly ofclaim 32, further comprising: a cylindrical shaft extending axiallyoutward from the second tapered portion end; and a second helical flightattached to and extending along an exterior surface of the cylindricalshaft.
 34. The adapter assembly of claim 32, further comprising an endplate fixedly attached to the second tapered portion end, the end platehaving a substantially flat surface disposed perpendicular to acenterline of the screw pile.
 35. The adapter assembly of claim 32,wherein the screw pile and the pile tip are configured to be filled withconcrete.
 36. The adapter assembly of claim 32, wherein the screw pileand the pile tip are configured to be installed in the ground, and onceinstalled, to remain in the ground.